Römerfest Neuss at the State Garden Show

Römerfest Neuss 2026 — A Week of Antiquity at the LAGA

From July 31 to August 2, 2026, the Römerfest Neuss will honor a special anniversary as part of the 2026 State Garden Show: In 2021, the Lower Germanic Limes — the ancient Roman border line on the Rhine between Bonn and Nijmegen — was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Neuss is one of the most important sites of this World Heritage: Novaesium, one of the largest Roman legionary camps on the Lower Rhine, was located here, garrisoned by the Legio XV Apollinaris and later by other legions.

2026 Program

Authentic Roman Camp

Right in the middle of the LAGA, reenactors from the Römercohorte Opladen e.V. will set up an authentic Roman camp — with tents, campfires, workshop areas, and camp life from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The cohort is one of the most renowned reenactment ensembles in Germany and illuminates all aspects of Roman daily life: soldiers' camp, camp kitchen, blacksmith, medical service, scribe's office.

Weapon Drills and Formations

Throughout the day, the legionaries of the cohort will demonstrate:

• Classic weapon drills (pilum throw, sword drill, shield formation)
• The famous Testudo (tortoise formation) — one of the most famous Roman combat formations
• March demonstrations with a forced march
• Reconstructed command structures and commands in Latin

Roman Crafts and Daily Life

• Blacksmith: Production of Roman tools, nails, fittings
• Bronze casting and jewelry making
• Pottery using Roman potter's wheel techniques
• Weaving and tunic tailoring
• Camp kitchen: Bread baking in a clay oven, soup preparation, apple sauce, and spiced wines according to Apicius
• Scribe's office: Demonstration of Roman writing tablet techniques with wax and stylus

Hands-on Program

Both children and adults can actively participate in camp life:

• Put on your own tunic and have your picture taken as a legionary
• Writing tablet workshops (inscribe your own tablet)
• Mosaic workshop for children
• Roman games (Tabula, Latrunculi, dice games)
• Archery and slingshot (safely, for children aged 6 and up)

Lectures and Guided Tours

The Römerfest will also offer:

• Lectures on Roman history on the Lower Rhine and the Limes World Heritage
• Guided hikes to the site of the ancient legionary camp Novaesium (today Reckberg)
• Visit to the Clemens-Sels-Museum in Neuss with its outstanding Roman finds
• Discussion panels with archaeologists and historians from the University of Bonn

Neuss State Garden Show 2026 — The Setting

The Neuss State Garden Show 2026 runs from April 16 to October 11, 2026, and is one of the largest garden shows in the history of North Rhine-Westphalia. On an area of around 30 hectares along the Rhine promenade, the LAGA designers will present garden and landscape design, plant shows, themed gardens, and over 1,000 events. The Römerfest is one of the more historically ambitious special formats — fitting for Neuss's history as an ancient Roman site.

Lower Germanic Limes — UNESCO World Heritage Since 2021

The Lower Germanic Limes was the northernmost outer border of the Roman Empire in this region — a line of about 400 kilometers along the Rhine between Remagen in the south and Katwijk in the Netherlands in the north. Unlike the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes (wall and ditch), it consisted mainly of the natural river course with fortified garrisons, watchtowers, and supply bases. In 2021, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List — as Germany's youngest World Heritage site.

Neuss and Novaesium

The city of Neuss (Latin Novaesium) is one of the oldest cities in Germany. A Roman military camp was already located here around 16 BC — one of the oldest and largest on the Lower Rhine. Finds from the camp (barracks, baths, temples, cemeteries) are among the most significant Roman finds in North Rhine-Westphalia and can be seen at the Clemens-Sels-Museum. The current camp site is located at Reckberg in the Neuss district of Gnadental.